Is fare-free urban transport a path to women's empowerment? evaluating safety and mobility outcomes: evidence from Delhi’s pink pass policy

The safety concerns in urban transport constitute a significant barrier to social and economic participation, disproportionately affecting women. In October 2019, the Government of Delhi introduced the Pink Pass policy, granting fare-free access to women in public buses. The policy reform had two objectives: (i) to improve financial accessibility through fare-free travel and (ii) to enhance safety through introducing bus marshals, surveillance, and gender-sensitive operations. This research examines women's safety perceptions after the introduction of the Pink Pass policy in Delhi. I use primary data from the Delhi Women Survey (2023) [N = 2,142] to evaluate the impact of the policy on women’s perceived safety and mobility outcomes. Multinomial logistic regression and structural equation modeling are employed to examine both direct and mediated effects. The findings suggest that fare-free transport, when combined with safety interventions, enhances women’s perceived safety and supports their social and economic participation. This study contributes to the literature by providing one of the first empirical assessments of fare-free public transport and women’s safety perceptions in India, with broader implications for gender-sensitive urban transport policy design in the Global South.